HOUSTON -- Xander Bogaerts ran his hardest to first base, sprinting from the moment his bat made contact until his foot stepped on the bag.

Twice during the Boston Red Sox's 8-3 win over the Houston Astros Friday night, Bogaerts hit a weak groundball to the left side of the infield as the Astros turned a double play. It was the first time that Bogaerts grounded into two double plays in one game. He's only hit into a pair of outs nine times in his major league career, but these two were particularly frustrating as his batting averaged slipped to .234, a far cry from his .304 average he held on May 31.

"There's disappointment where he's in situations where he's got men in scoring position and doesn't cash in on a base hit," manager John Farrell said Saturday. "But the one thing that we'll continue to provide is consistency with him, and make sure that he understands that we believe in his ability and he as a person. We're working with him to get through this."

Has Bogaerts disappointed? Perhaps it was because he was anointed Rookie of the Year before the season even started. He is just 21 years old, an age at which most of us haven't even started our professional careers. His career got off to a great start but has been rocky since.

To be expected.

Bogaerts was hitting .314 on April 10, .252 on May 10, .283 on June 10 and .237 on July 10.

"Attitude is great," Farrell said. "He's a conscientious kid who cares and really wants to do well, and with that, some of the ebb and flow of confidence based on the end result is going to be present, too. We try to monitor that close. We try to be supportive and encourage it. But yet in the batter's box, that's where he's got to trust the work that's going on."

There was also the added pressure added on Bogaerts when the Red Sox moved him to No. 2 in the lineup when they were struggling to score runs. It was an almost instantaneous drop in production. And while he also stopped hitting when he was moved from shortstop to third base, the lineup swap might've played an even bigger role. He hit just .229 when hitting second.

Bogaerts has since been moved down in the order as the Red Sox hope to take that pressure off and let him grow at his own pace.

"What's right for our team long-term is to get a productive Xander Bogaerts," Farrell said.

The team will continue to pinch-hit for Bogaerts in key spots late in games, at least until he gets his bast going.

"But we don't lose sight that we still have confidence and know that he's going to be an impact player," Farrell said. "We're working through some things to get there."

A season of highs and lows for the two rookies, charted by OPS

While Bogaerts has seen his production dip, fellow rookie Jackie Bradley Jr. has started to figure things out at the plate. Bradley is 9-for-24 (.375) in July. Much of his improved proaction came from opening up his batting stance.